ARMI AAVIKKO – SIINÄ VÄLISSÄ OLIN ELOSSA

In the musical play about Armi Aavikko, there is also room for joy of life and humor.

Theatre Review

Kajaanin kaupunginteatteri:
Armi Aavikko – siinä välissä olin elossa
Director: Joel Härkönen

★★★★★

From this performance one already knows in advance that no happy ending is to be expected.

In the too-early-ended life of Armi Aavikko (1958–2002), admired as a beauty queen and schlager singer, there was no shortage of hardships, but Kajaani City Theatre’s interpretation of the woman’s story does not get stuck in them.

The 17-year-long, hope-laden partnership with Danny and the themes related to alcoholism are central narrative threads of Armi Aavikko – siinä välissä olin elossa, yet an even stronger theme emerges: the cruelty of the entertainment world and the realization of publicity.

For the 18-year-old Miss Finland 1977, the rise to broad public recognition is at first astonishing. The dark sides of the entertainment scene, however, quickly become familiar when Danny—already an established singer—decides to take Armi into his show.

The belittling treatment of a woman in a male-dominated music world, the media’s outrageous actions, and the criticism coming from people around her make the viewer seethe, in the same way as the recently released documentary PMMP keikalla: Ei enää ikinä.

Despite the weight of the subject matter, Joel Härkönen’s direction is not heavy. In a performance that treats its protagonist respectfully, there is space also for joy of life, the courage to throw oneself in, and humor.

The musical’s balance is the sum of many factors.

Perhaps the most essential of them is Milla Kuikka, who plays Armi and creates a character who feels genuine, whose sensitivity and warmth make it possible to relate to her deeply.

Support for the acting is also found in Jukka Peltola’s portrayal of Danny, although the focal point is difficult to grasp in that masculinity; although the female lead leaves all… (the original text contains some typos/printing issues, preserved here) …toward everything that slips through the hands despite all this.

The performance is at its lightest in the entertaining numbers of Armi and Danny, where the aesthetics of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s are presented with delightful vibrancy.

In Tiina Siltala’s costumes and Sonja Pakalén’s choreography, one is taken directly back to, for instance, the delightful Armi ja Danny laserajassa TV show (1978).
The retro sound typical to the era is also heard in the band led by Valtteri Veisikko-Pääkkönen, assembled from students of the Kainuu Vocational College Conservatory.

Vocally, the musical takes a major leap compared to last spring’s Pesis-musikaali. Now the actors’ interpretations convince even in the harmonies.

It also beautifully becomes clear how the initially insecure Aavikko gradually grows into an artist who would eventually want to make music on her own terms, without ever receiving the chance.

Last year’s Veljeni Leijonamieli showed that Joel Härkönen, as a director, has the ability to command large-scale entities.

That is also visible in the Armi Aavikko musical play, where Härkönen guides the story naturally from one part of the stage to another, from onstage to backstage.

The long distances between audience and performers, and the actors’ transitions into backstage, do not disturb, as the events are filmed almost constantly onto large screens. The solution is excellent, for it highlights the existence of schlager stars as “public animals.”

The audience’s emotional register is tuned to the extreme when even the smallest gestures between Armi and Danny do not go unnoticed thanks to the cameras. At times their presence is also used deliberately to push toward the boundaries of discomfort.

Creating a coherent cross-section of Aavikko’s life over a quarter century is not an easy task, but it succeeds here. A sense of rush appears only in Armi and Danny’s cruise-show, breathlessly fast-paced hit medley—but that rush belongs exactly there.

The package holds together despite limited resources: apart from the two main characters, each actor plays several roles with quick changes.

The cornerstone of everything is the stage adaptation by Martta Jylhä of Yle’s audio drama Armi Aavikko – siinä välissä olin elossa from four years ago.

Listening to it was a full 20-episode experience, but the two-and-a-half-hour theatre version still captures the essential qualities of Kati Kaartinen’s original texts.

Both are lovingly crafted portrayals of Aavikko’s life.

In the stage play, tear ducts open at the latest when the real Armi Aavikko is brought into the performance through archival footage.

Katja Mabrouk